Episode 3: A Name in the Mirror

🌕 Episode 3: A Name in the Mirror

[Scene: Morning – Vale Manor Bathroom]

The mirror had fogged again.

Rowan stood in her bathrobe, toothbrush dangling from her lips, staring at the steam-covered glass.

At first it was blank.

Then, like breath pressed against frost, letters slowly appeared—soft but clear.

L U C A

She frowned.

“Not Juliette?”

The letters stayed.

Still dripping from her shower, she wiped the mirror clean. Her own reflection stared back—hair damp, eyes sharp, and full of too many ghosts.

Behind her… the door creaked.

She spun.

Nothing.

[Scene: Kitchen – Bastian making coffee like an emotionally repressed domestic god]

Rowan padded into the kitchen in fuzzy socks and a deadpan expression.

“You ever heard of a guy named Luca?”

Bastian froze mid-pour. “…Why?”

“Because your dead cousin just wrote his name on my mirror.”

He blinked. “I’m going to need context. And caffeine.”

Rowan slid into the chair opposite him. “The house keeps choosing new people to haunt. I think Vera’s letting the rest of the ghosts speak now.”

Bastian stirred his coffee. “Luca Fontaine.”

Rowan narrowed her eyes. “That name sounds suspiciously vintage.”

“He was a rising star in the 1920s. Same circles as Vera. Family says he was… unstable. Jealous. Tried to propose to her, but she turned him down.”

“Because of Juliette.”

“Probably.”

Rowan crossed her arms. “And how exactly are you related to this Luca Fontaine?”

He gave her a tired look. “Let’s just say I didn’t exactly apply to be part of this haunted romance drama.”

[Flashback – Bastian’s Memory, Nighttime Dream]

He stands in a burning room.

Velvet curtains aflame.

A woman screams behind a closed door.

Someone—him?—pounds on it, shouting: “Let her go!”

But the voice isn’t his.

It’s deeper. Angrier.

Twisted with obsession.

He wakes up gasping.

His hands are blackened with ash.

[Scene: Vale Manor Study – Afternoon Dust & Secrets]

Rowan and Bastian explored the west wing. The air was stale, thick with mothballs and faded perfume.

A book shifted itself off a shelf.

Rowan shrieked (quietly and with dignity).

Bastian picked it up. Inside was a folded letter. Handwritten in perfect script.

My dearest V,

He’s watching us. I think he knows. I no longer feel safe in the house when you are away. He follows me into the garden. Pretends to be a friend. But you know he is not.

If I disappear… it was not of my own will.

– J.

Rowan’s hands trembled.

“He killed her,” she whispered. “He couldn’t have her, so he made sure no one else did.”

Bastian stepped back, a horrified look crossing his face.

Rowan turned sharply. “What?”

“Luca was committed to an institution in 1944. For arson and delusions. The fire destroyed an entire manor. I thought it was myth. I didn’t realize…”

“You’re his grandson.”

He nodded. “And you’re Vera’s.”

They stood there—two descendants of love and ruin. Mirrors of a past that never healed.

Rowan whispered, “We’re standing in their battlefield.”

[Scene: Night – Upstairs Hallway]

Footsteps echoed. Not theirs.

Soft. Barefoot. Female.

Rowan walked slowly, candle in hand. Shadows flickered.

Then—she saw it.

At the end of the hall, a woman in a long gown. Translucent. Standing still.

Rowan took a step closer. “Juliette?”

The figure didn’t move.

The candle flickered violently.

Then the figure vanished.

And a faint whisper echoed:

“Not her.”

[Scene: Bastian’s Room – Same Night]

He woke to find the name JULIETTE carved gently into the condensation on his window.

Then the same whisper, this time right behind his ear:

“Fix what he broke.”

[Scene: Next Morning – Outside on the Porch]

They sat side by side on the steps.

Silent.

Rowan finally spoke. “What if this isn’t just about memory? What if the house is repeating something?”

Bastian nodded. “We’re falling into the same rhythm.”

“You mean—descendants, strangers, ghosts with unfinished business. Tragic attraction.”

He looked sideways at her. “Are you saying we’re doomed?”

Rowan hesitated.

Then smirked. “I’m saying… we should probably start researching exorcisms before we accidentally reenact a murder-suicide.”

Bastian chuckled. “Great. I’ll get the sage. You get the holy water.”

“Deal. Also… we might need therapy.”

[Final Scene – Back in the Mirror Room]

Rowan stood in front of the vanity where she first saw “RUN.”

She lit a candle.

“If you’re here,” she whispered to the air, “I want to know your story. The truth. Not just Vera’s. But yours, Juliette.”

The mirror remained still.

Then a handprint appeared.

Feminine. Small.

Next to it, in soft script:

“Find the necklace.”

Rowan stared.

Because she knew where it was.

Around Vera’s neck.

In her final film.

The one never released.

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